Plos One
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Increasing evidence demonstrates that maternal folic acid (FA) supplementation during pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects, but whether FA prevents preterm delivery and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) remains obscure. Previous studies showed that maternal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure induces preterm delivery, fetal death and IUGR in rodent animals. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of FA on LPS-induced preterm delivery, fetal death and IUGR in mice. ⋯ Correspondingly, FA significantly attenuated LPS-induced upregulation of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in mouse placentas. In addition, FA significantly reduced the levels of interleukin (IL)-6 and keratinocyte-derived cytokine (KC) in amniotic fluid of LPS-treated mice. Collectively, maternal FA supplementation during pregnancy protects against LPS-induced preterm delivery, fetal death and IUGR through its anti-inflammatory effects.
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The present study was aimed to investigate the protective effects of different-time-ischemic preconditioning on the reperfusion injury in fatty livers in rats, and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the protective effects and the optimal safe ischemic preconditioning time on the hepatic IR injury in steatotic livers. ⋯ Fat infiltration could aggravate the ischemia-reperfusion injury in the rat liver. Furthermore, ischemic preconditioning could increase the tolerance of the fatty liver, which was induced by the high-fat diet, to hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. The protocol of 5/8 min +10 min IP was the optimal regimen for the treatment of moderate and severe fatty livers.
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In this study we investigated the effects of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene variants on the composition of faecal microbiota, in patients affected by Cystic Fibrosis (CF). CFTR mutations (F508del is the most common) lead to a decreased secretion of chloride/water, and to mucus sticky secretions, in pancreas, respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. Intestinal manifestations are underestimated in CF, leading to ileum meconium at birth, or small bowel bacterial overgrowth in adult age. ⋯ This is the first report that establishes a link among CFTR variants and shifts in faecal microbiota, opening the way to studies that perceive CF as a 'systemic disease', linking the lung and the gut in a joined axis.
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Pain interferes and disrupts attention. What is less clear is how pain affects performance on complex tasks, and the strategies used to ensure optimal outcomes. The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of pain on higher-order executive control processes involved in managing complex tasks. ⋯ For the word generation puzzle, pain did not affect task performance, but did alter subjective accounts of the processes used to complete the task; pain affected the perceived allocation of time to the task, as well as switching perceptions. Sex differences were also found. When studying higher-order cognitive processes, pain-related interference effects are varied, and may result in subtle or indirect changes in cognition.
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The aim of this study was to determine the effect of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on fetal insulin resistance or β-cell function in Chinese pregnant women with GDM. ⋯ Fetal insulin resistance was higher in Chinese pregnant women with GDM than control subjects, and correlated with maternal insulin resistance.